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Philips Research claims breakthrough with brain scan software

Philip Software has developed 'decision support software' that, when used in combination with PET brain scans and a tracer called fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG), may assist in diagnosing several types of dementia, including LBD.

Philips scientist Stewart Young said: 'The system contains a database of scans of people with healthy brains, and patients with particular verified diseases — Alzheimer's, frontotemporal dementia or Lewy body dementia. Following a scan, the software compares the patient's image to this database by aligning the images, then computing a simple set of numbers which indicates the similarity of patterns in the patient's brain to the patterns in the database.'